diff --git a/cmd/gotosocial/main.go b/cmd/gotosocial/main.go
index 78c7002a2..ffb7b9b8d 100644
--- a/cmd/gotosocial/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gotosocial/main.go
@@ -22,23 +22,69 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/gotosocial/gotosocial/cmd/server"
+	"github.com/gotosocial/gotosocial/internal/consts"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 )
 
 func main() {
+	flagNames := consts.GetFlagNames()
+	envNames := consts.GetEnvNames()
 	app := &cli.App{
 		Flags: []cli.Flag{
+			// GENERAL FLAGS
 			&cli.StringFlag{
-				Name:        "config",
-				Aliases:     []string{"c"},
-				Usage:       "Load configuration from `FILE`",
+				Name:    flagNames.LogLevel,
+				Usage:   "Log level to run at: debug, info, warn, fatal",
+				Value:   "info",
+				EnvVars: []string{"GTS_LOG_LEVEL"},
 			},
 			&cli.StringFlag{
-				Name:        "log-level",
-				Usage:       "Log level to run at: debug, info, warn, fatal",
-				Value:       "info",
+				Name:    flagNames.ApplicationName,
+				Usage:   "Name of the application, used in various places internally",
+				Value:   "gotosocial",
+				EnvVars: []string{envNames.ApplicationName},
+				Hidden:  true,
+			},
+
+			// DATABASE FLAGS
+			&cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:    flagNames.DbType,
+				Usage:   "Database type: eg., postgres",
+				Value:   "postgres",
+				EnvVars: []string{envNames.DbType},
+			},
+			&cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:    flagNames.DbAddress,
+				Usage:   "Database ipv4 address or hostname",
+				Value:   "localhost",
+				EnvVars: []string{envNames.DbAddress},
+			},
+			&cli.IntFlag{
+				Name:    flagNames.DbPort,
+				Usage:   "Database port",
+				Value:   5432,
+				EnvVars: []string{envNames.DbPort},
+			},
+			&cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:    flagNames.DbUser,
+				Usage:   "Database username",
+				Value:   "postgres",
+				EnvVars: []string{envNames.DbUser},
+			},
+			&cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:     flagNames.DbPassword,
+				Usage:    "Database password",
+				Value:    "postgres",
+				EnvVars:  []string{envNames.DbPassword},
+				FilePath: "./dbpass",
+			},
+			&cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:    flagNames.DbDatabase,
+				Usage:   "Database name",
+				Value:   "postgres",
+				EnvVars: []string{envNames.DbDatabase},
 			},
 		},
 		Commands: []*cli.Command{
diff --git a/cmd/server/server.go b/cmd/server/server.go
index 4f2969993..bd16e1f84 100644
--- a/cmd/server/server.go
+++ b/cmd/server/server.go
@@ -25,43 +25,28 @@ import (
 	"os/signal"
 	"syscall"
 
+	"github.com/gotosocial/gotosocial/internal/config"
 	"github.com/gotosocial/gotosocial/internal/db"
-	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/gotosocial/gotosocial/internal/log"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 )
 
-// getLog will try to set the logrus log level to the
-// desired level specified by the user with the --log-level flag
-func getLog(c *cli.Context) (*logrus.Logger, error) {
-	log := logrus.New()
-	logLevel, err := logrus.ParseLevel(c.String("log-level"))
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	log.SetLevel(logLevel)
-	return log, nil
-}
-
 // Run starts the gotosocial server
 func Run(c *cli.Context) error {
-	log, err := getLog(c)
+	log, err := log.New(c.String("log-level"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error creating logger: %s", err)
 	}
 
-	ctx := context.Background()
-	dbConfig := &db.Config{
-		Type:            "POSTGRES",
-		Address:         "",
-		Port:            5432,
-		User:            "",
-		Password:        "whatever",
-		Database:        "postgres",
-		ApplicationName: "gotosocial",
+	var gtsConfig *config.Config
+	if gtsConfig, err = config.New(c.String("config")); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error creating config: %s", err)
 	}
-	dbService, err := db.NewService(ctx, dbConfig, log)
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	dbService, err := db.NewService(ctx, gtsConfig.DBConfig, log)
 	if err != nil {
-		return err
+		return fmt.Errorf("error creating dbservice: %s", err)
 	}
 
 	// catch shutdown signals from the operating system
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 65d4ccd08..edf69c9f6 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.4.3 // indirect
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.5.4 // indirect
 	github.com/jinzhu/inflection v1.0.0 // indirect
+	github.com/namsral/flag v1.7.4-pre // indirect
 	github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.15.0 // indirect
 	github.com/onsi/gomega v1.10.5 // indirect
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.8.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index b3350dc78..0365c4fe0 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421 h1:ZqeYNhU3OH
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
 github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v0.0.0-20180701023420-4b7aa43c6742 h1:Esafd1046DLDQ0W1YjYsBW+p8U2u7vzgW2SQVmlNazg=
 github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v0.0.0-20180701023420-4b7aa43c6742/go.mod h1:bx2lNnkwVCuqBIxFjflWJWanXIb3RllmbCylyMrvgv0=
+github.com/namsral/flag v1.7.4-pre h1:b2ScHhoCUkbsq0d2C15Mv+VU8bl8hAXV8arnWiOHNZs=
+github.com/namsral/flag v1.7.4-pre/go.mod h1:OXldTctbM6SWH1K899kPZcf65KxJiD7MsceFUpB5yDo=
 github.com/nxadm/tail v1.4.4 h1:DQuhQpB1tVlglWS2hLQ5OV6B5r8aGxSrPc5Qo6uTN78=
 github.com/nxadm/tail v1.4.4/go.mod h1:kenIhsEOeOJmVchQTgglprH7qJGnHDVpk1VPCcaMI8A=
 github.com/onsi/ginkgo v1.6.0/go.mod h1:lLunBs/Ym6LB5Z9jYTR76FiuTmxDTDusOGeTQH+WWjE=
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b6935a7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see .
+*/
+
+package config
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/gotosocial/gotosocial/internal/db"
+)
+
+// Config contains all the configuration needed to run gotosocial
+type Config struct {
+	DBConfig *db.Config `json:"db,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// New returns a new config, or an error if something goes amiss.
+// The path parameter is optional, for loading a configuration json from the given path.
+func New(path string) (*Config, error) {
+	var config *Config
+	if path != "" {
+		var err error
+		if config, err = loadFromFile(path); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error creating config: %s", err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return config, nil
+}
+
+// loadFromFile takes a path to a .json file and attempts to load a Config object from it
+func loadFromFile(path string) (*Config, error) {
+	bytes, err := os.ReadFile(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not read file at path %s: %s", path, err)
+	}
+
+	config := &Config{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(bytes, config); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not unmarshal file at path %s: %s", path, err)
+	}
+
+	return config, nil
+}
+
+// WithFlags returns a copy of this config object with flags set using the provided flags object
+func (c *Config) WithFlags(f Flags) *Config {
+	return c
+}
+
+// Flags is a wrapper for any type that can store keyed flags and give them back
+type Flags interface {
+	String(k string) string
+	Int(k string) int
+}
diff --git a/internal/consts/consts.go b/internal/consts/consts.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..92c574a41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/consts/consts.go
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see .
+*/
+
+// Package consts is where we shove any consts that don't really belong anywhere else in the code.
+// Don't judge me.
+package consts
+
+// FlagNames is used for storing the names of the various flags used for
+// initializing and storing urfavecli flag variables.
+type FlagNames struct {
+	LogLevel        string
+	ApplicationName string
+	DbType          string
+	DbAddress       string
+	DbPort          string
+	DbUser          string
+	DbPassword      string
+	DbDatabase      string
+}
+
+// GetFlagNames returns a struct containing the names of the various flags used for
+// initializing and storing urfavecli flag variables.
+func GetFlagNames() FlagNames {
+	return FlagNames{
+		LogLevel:        "log-level",
+		ApplicationName: "application-name",
+		DbType:          "db-type",
+		DbAddress:       "db-address",
+		DbPort:          "db-port",
+		DbUser:          "db-users",
+		DbPassword:      "db-password",
+		DbDatabase:      "db-database",
+	}
+}
+
+// EnvNames is used for storing the environment variable keys used for
+// initializing and storing urfavecli flag variables.
+type EnvNames struct {
+	LogLevel        string
+	ApplicationName string
+	DbType          string
+	DbAddress       string
+	DbPort          string
+	DbUser          string
+	DbPassword      string
+	DbDatabase      string
+}
+
+// GetEnvNames returns a struct containing the names of the environment variable keys used for
+// initializing and storing urfavecli flag variables.
+func GetEnvNames() FlagNames {
+	return FlagNames{
+		LogLevel:        "GTS_LOG_LEVEL",
+		ApplicationName: "GTS_APPLICATION_NAME",
+		DbType:          "GTS_DB_TYPE",
+		DbAddress:       "GTS_DB_ADDRESS",
+		DbPort:          "GTS_DB_PORT",
+		DbUser:          "GTS_DB_USER",
+		DbPassword:      "GTS_DB_PASSWORD",
+		DbDatabase:      "GTS_DB_DATABASE",
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/db/postgres.go b/internal/db/postgres.go
index f4cf47406..14c8d3d7b 100644
--- a/internal/db/postgres.go
+++ b/internal/db/postgres.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/go-fed/activity/streams/vocab"
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ func newPostgresService(ctx context.Context, config *Config, log *logrus.Entry)
 // derivePGOptions takes an application config and returns either a ready-to-use *pg.Options
 // with sensible defaults, or an error if it's not satisfied by the provided config.
 func derivePGOptions(config *Config) (*pg.Options, error) {
-	if config.Type != dbTypePostgres {
+	if strings.ToUpper(config.Type) != dbTypePostgres {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected db type of %s but got %s", dbTypePostgres, config.Type)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/db/service.go b/internal/db/service.go
index 9a1d3ce2c..6c738606e 100644
--- a/internal/db/service.go
+++ b/internal/db/service.go
@@ -46,13 +46,14 @@ type Service interface {
 
 // Config provides configuration options for the database connection
 type Config struct {
-	Type            string
-	Address         string
-	Port            int
-	User            string
-	Password        string
-	Database        string
-	ApplicationName string
+	Type            string `json:"type,omitempty"`
+	Address         string `json:"address,omitempty"`
+	Port            int    `json:"port,omitempty"`
+	User            string `json:"user,omitempty"`
+	Password        string `json:"password,omitempty"`
+	PasswordFile    string `json:"passwordFile,omitempty"`
+	Database        string `json:"database,omitempty"`
+	ApplicationName string `json:"applicationName,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // NewService returns a new database service that satisfies the Service interface and, by extension,
diff --git a/internal/log/log.go b/internal/log/log.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..65b820ce4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/log/log.go
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see .
+*/
+
+package log
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+)
+
+// New returns a new logrus logger with the specified level,
+// or an error if that level can't be parsed
+func New(level string) (*logrus.Logger, error) {
+	log := logrus.New()
+	log.SetOutput(&outputSplitter{})
+	return setLogLevel(level, log)
+}
+
+// outputSplitter implements the io.Writer interface for use with Logrus, and simply
+// splits logs between stdout and stderr depending on their severity.
+// See: https://github.com/sirupsen/logrus/issues/403#issuecomment-346437512
+type outputSplitter struct{}
+
+func (splitter *outputSplitter) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
+	if bytes.Contains(p, []byte("level=error")) {
+		return os.Stderr.Write(p)
+	}
+	return os.Stdout.Write(p)
+}
+
+// setLogLevel will try to set the logrus log level to the
+// desired level specified by the user with the --log-level flag
+func setLogLevel(level string, logger *logrus.Logger) (*logrus.Logger, error) {
+	log := logrus.New()
+	logLevel, err := logrus.ParseLevel(level)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	log.SetLevel(logLevel)
+	return log, nil
+}